World Literature

• Literature


  A body of written works
• Literature


  Comes from the Latin word "littera" which means letter
• World literature


  A translation of the German word Welliteratur, coined by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832)
• Literature liberates people from Political oppression, social injustice, economic inequality, and emotional inhibition as reflected in short, stories, novels, dramas, essays, and other literary genres
• Literature is the beautiful expression of man's personal interpretation of some aspect of human life, or a wording out in a unique, beautiful, and personal manner of saying what the author thinks is a passionate meaning of life
• Literature adds to reality, it does not only describe
• Importance of Studying Literature

  • Literature helps us grow both personally and intellectually
  • Literature links us with the world of which we are a part
  • Literature enables us to transcend our immediate time, place, and culture and to make connections with other human beings and their concerns
  • Literature encourages us to develop mature empathy with all forms of life- human, animal, and plant
  • Literature sharpens our sense of moral judgement
  • Literature sharpens our imagination and ingenuity
  • Literature shows the significance of irony, paradox, oxymoron, and ambivalence
  • Literature allows us to see the world in different vantage point
  • Literature relives history
  • Literature reminds us that we are human beings
• Literary Genres


  • Prose Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Drama
  • Nonfiction Prose
• Prose Fiction


  • Presents a story that is invented and not literally "true"
  • It is written to be read rather than acted or performed
  • The events depicted are told to us by a narrator, not enacted or dramatized
• Prose Fiction Types


  • Myth
  • Legend
  • Parable
  • Fable
  • Fairy Tale
  • Short Story
  • Novel
  • Novella
• Myth


  A story of origins, how the world and everything in it came to be. It orients people to the metaphysical dimension, attempts to explain the origins and nature of the world, as well as a certain custom or practice of a human society, validates social issues, and on the psychological plane, addresses oneself to the innermost depths of the psyche
• Legend


  An unverified story handed down from earlier times, especially one popularly believed to be historical
• Parable


  A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson
• Fable


  A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans
• Fairy Tale


  A kind of folktale or fable. In this story, we meet witches and queens, giants and elves, princes, dragons, talking animals, ogres, princesses, and sometimes even fairies. Marvelous and magical things happen to characters in fairy tales
• Short Story


  A piece of prose fiction marked by relative shortness and density, organized into a plot and with some kind of dénouement at the end
• Novel


  A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of numerous characters placed in a number of different situations
• Novella


  A fictional prose narrative that is longer that a short story, but shorter than a novel. It is a form in its own right
• Poetry


  A piece of art written by a poet in meter or verse expressing various emotions which are expressed by the use of variety of techniques including metaphor, similes and onomatopoeia
• Poetry Types


  • Lyric Poetry
  • Narrative Poetry
  • Dramatic Poetry
• Lyric Poetry


  A comparatively short, non-narrative poem in which a single speaker presents a state of mind of an emotional state. It retains some of the elements of song which is said to be its origin
• Lyric Poetry Forms


  • Song
  • Sonnet
  • Elegy
  • Ode
• Narrative Poetry


  Gives a verbal representation, in verse, of a sequence of connected events. It propels characters through a plot. It Is always told by a narrator
• Narrative Poetry Forms


  • Ballad
  • Metrical Romance
  • Epic
• Dramatic Poetry


  Tells stories, but the poet lets one or more of the story's characters act out the story
• Dramatic Poetry Forms


  • Dramatic Monologue
  • Soliloquy
• Drama


  A story acted out. It shows people going through some eventful period in their lives, seriously or humorously
• Drama Types


  • Tragedy
  • Comedy
• Tragedy


  A drama in which a heroic protagonist meets an unhappy or calamitous end, brought about by some fatal flaw of character by circumstances outside his or her control, or simply by destiny
• Tragedy Forms


  • Tragicomedy
  • Melodrama
• Comedy


  Depicts humorous incidents in which protagonists are faced with moderate difficulties but overcome them and the play ends happily
• Comedy Forms


  • Satirical Comedy
  • Comedy of Manners
  • Romantic Comedy
  • Black Comedy
  • Farce
• Nonfiction Prose Types

  • Autobiography
  • Biography
  • Character Sketch
  • Diary or Journal
  • Editorial
  • Essay
• Autobiography


  A biography written by the person himself or herself
• Biography


  A personal account of a person's life written by another person
• Character Sketch


  An abbreviated portrayal of a particular characteristic of people. It emphasizes the most striking part of a person's life
• Diary or Journal


  A daily record of events in a person's life
• Editorial

  A statement or an article by a news organization, newspaper or magazine that expresses the opinion of the editor, editorial board, or publisher
• Essay

  A brief work of nonfiction that offers an opinion on a subject. The purpose of an essay may be to express ideas and feelings, to analyze, to inform, to entertain, or to persuade
• Critical Approaches in Studying Literature


  • Reader Response Approach
  • Marxism
  • Feminism
  • Queer Theory
  • Formalism
  • Historical-Biographical Approach
  • Deconstruction
  • Moral/Intellectual Approach